Getting started with Google Glass Development

Today I am very excited to write my first Google Glass tutorial. This is the first article on android wearable devices which is a simple Hello World app. Going forward I’ll cover other android wearables like watches.

I know that Google Glass is very expensive and not everybody afford to have one. But I am sure the price will comedown once the glass is stable and more popular.

As of today there is no official glass emulator to test the apps. But you can try out these options discussed in this forum.

If you are really serious about building apps for glass, you can order it from PlayStore.

The following steps will take you through various stages of glass development like downloading GDK, installing drivers, writing a simple hello world program and deploying the same on glass.

1. Downloading GDK (Glass Development Kit)

Glass Development Kit provides APIs to build glassware applications. These APIs won’t be available in all the versions of android.

1 Open SDK manager from your android’s SDK folder.

2 Select Android 4.2.2 (API 19), Google USB Driver (under Extras) and click on Install Packages. This takes a while to download all the packages.

2. Installing Google Glass Drivers

Android device drivers can be installed either from android SDK’s google usb drivers or with the software that comes from device manufacturer. For Google Glass we can directly use google usb driver. But before installing we need to do a modification in android_winusb.inf, otherwise, your glass device won’t be listed in Eclipse even though you have installed the drivers correctly.

1. Goto your android_SDK_folder\sdk\extras\google\usb_driver and edit android_winusb.inf. Add the below text at the end of the file.

Until now we are done with simple hello world program. In the next step we’ll learn how to deploy the app on the glass device.

4. Running the application on Glass

7. In order to deploy the app on Glass we need to turn on debug option. So on your glass go to Settings ⇒ Device Info ⇒ Turn on debug.

8. Now connect the Glass to your PC using a USB cable. Right click on the project and Run As ⇒ Android Application. Eclipse will list the glass in the list of devices available. Select the glass device and press ok. You should able see the app running on your glass.

Now you have successfully developed your first Hello Glass application. But if you close the app or glass goes to sleep, you can’t find the app again anywhere on glass.

In the next step we’ll learn how to add our app to “Ok Glass” menu. So that we can launch our app using a voice command like other glass apps.

5. Adding our app to “Ok Glass” menu

9. Download app_icon.png and paste it in res ⇒ drawable folder. As per glass guidelines, app icon should be 50x50px with white foreground and transparent background.

Hi there! I am Founder at androidhive and programming enthusiast. My skills includes Android, iOS, PHP, Ruby on Rails and lot more. If you have any idea that you would want me to develop? Let’s talk: ravi@androidhive.info

when will you deploy tutorial for android wear watch……i have installed and connected with that but not being able to write a code in it so…hoping soon.

Aryan Gaikwad

I don’t have a Google Glass. Can I run it on a emulator?

bhavna

i want to create a ribbon menu in my app like the one which is present in gmail’s app..can you tell me the code.

sungan

Thanks for amazing tutorial .. I am purchasing one glass and trying to run a sample code, but i cant see “Google USB driver” under extras.. need help 🙁

sungan

and one more thing. I know i should specify minimum API as 19, but my glass API is 15.. is there any way to upgrade it?

Rob LaPointe

Interesting but the annoying thing is that I can’t use emulator as of now! Is there a any other way yo step forward with google glass app development goo.gl/jfftmY, also clear me is it different from other wearable app development? What do you think about app UI designs are they tougher or easier to accomplish?